Research publications

This paper examines the governance framework for radioactive waste management in Canada and describes the various disposal projects proposed to date and the decision-making process that supports them. Disposal projects vary according to the different categories of radioactive waste, which require a type of containment and isolation specific to their level of risk in order to protect human health and the environment. For example, low-level radioactive waste, such as contaminated soil and equipment used in nuclear power plants, can be stored long term in near surface facilities. In comparison, high-level waste, such as spent nuclear fuel, and some intermediate-level waste, such as former nuclear reactor parts, may have to be contained and isolated in deep geological repositories for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years. In Canada, four long-term, low- and intermediate-level waste management projects are expected to be completed in the coming years. Three of these projects involve the disposal of low-level waste owned by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories in near-surface facilities. Two of these projects are already under construction (Port Hope and Port Granby) and the other is in the approval phase (Chalk River). A proposed deep geological repository for the disposal of low- and intermediate-level waste owned by Ontario Power Generation that was in the process of being approved was rejected in its current form following a ratification vote by the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. An alternative solution will have to be considered. With respect to high-level waste, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization was established in 2002 as a not-for-profit organization to develop and implement a national long-term management plan for all of Canada’s spent nuclear fuel. This plan, known as Adaptive Phased Management, is expected to lead to the selection of a suitable site for a deep geological repository.